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Policy

In March 2012 the Danish Parliament adopted a historically broad and ambitious Energy Agreement on the development of the Danish energy supply. One of the key targets is to ensure that 50 per cent of the Danish electricity consumption is supplied by wind power by 2020.

The goal of 50 percent wind powered electricity is a part of the long-term goal of covering the entire Danish energy demand by renewable energy sources by 2050. The 50 percent target is to be reached with the production of wind energy from turbines placed both on- and offshore.

Fewer, but more efficient turbinesNew, more efficient wind turbines are continuously being developed and continuously replace the older, existing turbines. This means that the total number of wind turbines will be reduced from the current 5.000 to approximately 3.400 turbines in 2020. Furthermore, the share of wind power in the Danish electricity consumption is set to increase from 30 percent in 2012, to 50 percent in 2020. Specifically, this means that wind power production will increase by approximately 83 percent, even though the number of turbines will decrease by approximately 30 percent. The energy-production from wind-power will increase from approximately 9.8 TWh today to 18 TWh in 2020.

Denmark as a showcaseThe ambitious targets of the 2012 Energy Agreement will maintain the Danish position as one of the leading countries in regards to wind power. With estimated investments in the wind industry of 6-6.7 billion euros by 2020, Denmark will continue to be a leading showcase for new wind turbine technology and the integration of wind power into the electricity system. This increased share of wind power in electricity consumption also entails that the CO2 emissions associated with electricity production will fall from a current CO2 average of 450 kg/MWh to 199 kg/MWh in 2020.

In addition, an increased share of wind power in the Danish energy supply will result in greater security of supply, as we become less dependent on fluctuating energy prices of fossil fuels. Furthermore, the Energy Agreement ensures that Denmark will meet its EU target of 30 per cent renewable energy in the Danish gross energy consumption by 2020.